CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE on Inquirer.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nFor years, Philadelphia officials made adjustments in how authorities respond to 911 calls for people in crisis. More police were trained to intervene. Outreach workers were paired with cops in Kensington. And a behavioral health specialist was embedded in the dispatch center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then in October, Philadelphia police fatally shot Walter Wallace Jr., firing 14 times at the 27-year-old Black man who approached them while wielding a knife and ignoring calls to drop it. Police were responding to 911 calls with screaming in the background from family and neighbors who said Wallace was hitting his parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When police arrived, Wallace\u2019s wife shouted that her husband was \u201cmental,\u201d and family later said he was in crisis that day. But Wallace\u2019s mental health status wasn\u2019t discussed during the frantic 911 calls, and the police\u2019s new behavioral health specialist wasn\u2019t in the radio room when the calls came in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Inquirer.com May 4, 2021 CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE on Inquirer.com For years, Philadelphia officials made adjustments in how authorities respond to 911 calls for people in crisis. More police were trained to intervene. Outreach workers were paired with cops in Kensington. And a behavioral health specialist was embedded in the dispatch center. Then in October, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[102,31,42,45,153,92],"news-category":[],"class_list":["post-3415","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","tag-city-of-philadelphia","tag-community","tag-dbhids","tag-mental-health","tag-police","tag-walter-wallace-jr"],"yoast_head":"\n
Following other cities, Philly will soon send specialists alongside cops to some mental health calls - DBHIDS<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n